Kathleen Hindmarch, a Bomber Command heroine who served as a hairdresser with the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) during the Second World War, celebrates her 100th birthday today. She is eagerly awaiting a card from King Charles at her home in Maldon, Essex.
Service at RAF Mildenhall
Hindmarch joined the WAAF in 1942 at the age of 17, initially serving as a batwoman at RAF Mildenhall, one of the UK's largest bomber stations. Her role as a hairdresser, crimping officers' hair, led to a quick promotion to Sergeant. It was at Mildenhall that she met her future husband, Roy, an engineer servicing Lancaster Bombers. The couple married in 1947 and had two children, Gillian and Susan, now 73 and 69 respectively. Hindmarch also has three grandchildren—Katie, 42, Richard, 39, and Alistair, 32—and a great-granddaughter, Hollie, five.
After the war, she helped women transition to civilian life by guiding them through a WAAF hairdressing qualification.
Memories of War and Peace
Reflecting on her service, Hindmarch said: “Me and all the girls in the WAAF were all just 17 and aware of what was going around us, but all kept positive and our spirits up as best we could because that is how we got through. We were all so young. I can remember us all sleeping in a Nissen hut with only a pot belly fire to keep us warm.”
RAF Mildenhall opened on October 16, 1934, and played a significant role in Allied air campaigns. It was home to 622 Squadron, formed in August 1943 as part of Bomber Command's main force. Bomber Command, led by Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris, aimed to cripple Nazi Germany's industrial heartland. The Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park, London, opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 2012, honors the 55,573 airmen who lost their lives. The memorial, costing £10 million, was partly funded by £1 million in donations from readers of this newspaper.
Hindmarch recalled Victory in Europe Day: “Victory in Europe Day was joyous and we all sang and danced on the parade ground waving the Union flag.”
Life After the War
Hindmarch remarried in the 1960s and took on two more children, later becoming a pig and chicken farmer. Her daughter Gill Nelson said: “My mother is a truly remarkable lady and definitely one of a kind. She has lived a full and active life only slowed down by age but still very determined and loves to discuss all that is going on in the world and give her opinion. Her wonderful work ethic has been an inspiration, not only to her children and grandchildren, but also to the many apprentices she went on to train after the war, especially three who started with her at 13 years old and still visit her today now they are in their 70s and 80s.”
